Meaning "hand over, deliver" is recorded from late 14c.; "to return" (thanks, a verdict, etc.) is attested from late 15c.; meaning "represent, depict" is first attested 1590s. Irregular retention of -er in a French verb in English is perhaps to avoid confusion with native rend (v.) or by influence of a Middle English legalese noun render "a payment of rent," from French noun use of the infinitive. Related: Rendered; rendering.